How to restrict where a layer effect takes place?

I desire to have a layer effect (outer glow) on a small image (a face) that I have pasted into a larger
image. The problem is that when I apply the layer effect (outer glow) on the layer with the face, the
glow extends outwards into a certain area in which I do not want it to go.

What I would like to do is to somehow protect a small section of the background, so that the layer effect
wouldn't hit that particular section. I tried editing in quick mask mode, but I wasn't able to achieve my
goal.

Any suggestion appreciated,

Jon

What I would like to do is to somehow protect a small section of the background, so that the layer effect
wouldn't hit that particular section. I tried editing in quick mask mode, but I wasn't able to achieve my goal.

Put the layer in a layer set and apply an appropriate mask to the set.

Jon Danniken wrote:

I desire to have a layer effect (outer glow) on a small image (a face) that I have pasted into a larger
image. The problem is that when I apply the layer effect (outer glow) on the layer with the face, the
glow extends outwards into a certain area in which I do not want it to go.
What I would like to do is to somehow protect a small section of the background, so that the layer effect
wouldn't hit that particular section. I tried editing in quick mask mode, but I wasn't able to achieve my
goal.

Any suggestion appreciated,

Jon

Layer Mask. Check "Layer Mask hides effects in Layer Styles dialog.

--
Comic book sketches and artwork:
http://www.sover.net/~hannigan/edjh.html
Comics art for sale:
http://www.sover.net/~hannigan/batsale.html

Jon,Ctrl click on the layer with the face on it to select it. Then go to Select>Modify>Expand and type in the number of pixels you want to expand the selection by. Then do the outer glow. This will constrain the spread of the outer glow to within that expanded selection. Or if you need to make the selection around the head follow a different path, just use the lasso tool and draw the selection, then do the outer glow.

"Jon Danniken" ...

I desire to have a layer effect (outer glow) on a small image (a face) that I have pasted into a larger
image. The problem is that when I apply the layer effect (outer glow) on the layer with the face, the
glow extends outwards into a certain area in which I do not want it to go.
What I would like to do is to somehow protect a small section of the background, so that the layer effect
wouldn't hit that particular section. I tried editing in quick mask mode, but I wasn't able to achieve my
goal.

Any suggestion appreciated,

Jon

"edjh" wrote:

Jon Danniken wrote:

I desire to have a layer effect (outer glow) on a small image (a face) that I have pasted into a

larger

image. The problem is that when I apply the layer effect (outer glow) on the layer with the face, the
glow extends outwards into a certain area in which I do not want it to go.
What I would like to do is to somehow protect a small section of the background, so that the layer

effect

wouldn't hit that particular section. I tried editing in quick mask mode, but I wasn't able to

achieve my

goal.

Any suggestion appreciated,

Jon

Layer Mask. Check "Layer Mask hides effects in Layer Styles dialog.

Rats, I don't have that button in PS6. Thanks, though.

Jon

"Wesley Norman" wrote:

"Jon Danniken" wrote:

I desire to have a layer effect (outer glow) on a small image (a face) that I have pasted into a

larger

image. The problem is that when I apply the layer effect (outer glow) on the layer with the face, the
glow extends outwards into a certain area in which I do not want it to go.
What I would like to do is to somehow protect a small section of the background, so that the layer

effect

wouldn't hit that particular section. I tried editing in quick mask mode, but I wasn't able to

achieve my

goal.

Jon,Ctrl click on the layer with the face on it to select it. Then go to Select>Modify>Expand and type in the number of pixels you want to expand the selection by. Then do the outer glow. This will constrain the spread of the outer glow to within that expanded selection. Or if you need to make the selection around the head follow a different path, just use the lasso tool and draw the selection, then do the outer glow.

Thanks, Wesley. I tried doing the second method you describe here (it's exactly what I'm trying to do),
but no matter what I do the layer effect isn't paying any attention to any attempt at constraining it.
Here is a screenshot of what is happening:
http://kalyke.affordablehost.com/~jonnycat/MaskExample01.jpg

That is a face layer on a gray background layer; I selected a rectangle, set quick mask mode, then applied
the layer effect, but it still bleeds into the masked area (above and below the face). Making a freehand
selection yields the same results.

I must be missing something really obvious here (like my brain).

Jon

Hey, I have actually just been playing around with what I think you want to do.

Say you want to put a halo around a face. Select the face, and choose any adjustment layer. Click OK without doing anything. This will create a mask on the adjust layer which is just acting as a holder for the mask.

Select the mask. Now you can choose a layer style and it will affect the while pixels of the mask, ie, your selection. The layer style is responding to luminosity values on a mask as opposed to
non-transparency/transparencey on an image. On a mask, layer styles see white pixels as if they were pixels on an image, and see black pixels as if they were transparency on an image.

Go to

http://www.pacificsites.com/~dglaser/art/2004/reststop.html

to see what I did with an image using this technique, with some further explanation.

Dale

I desire to have a layer effect (outer glow) on a small image (a face) that I have pasted into a

larger

image. The problem is that when I apply the layer effect (outer glow) on the layer with the face, the
glow extends outwards into a certain area in which I do not want it to go.

n

Layer Mask. Check "Layer Mask hides effects in Layer Styles dialog.

Rats, I don't have that button in PS6. Thanks, though.
Jon

In 6 unlink the mask from the main thumbnail in the Layers Palette to get the same thing.

--
Comic book sketches and artwork:
http://www.sover.net/~hannigan/edjh.html
Comics art for sale:
http://www.sover.net/~hannigan/batsale.html

"edjh" wrote:

Jon Danniken wrote:

"edjh" wrote:

Layer Mask. Check "Layer Mask hides effects in Layer Styles dialog.

Rats, I don't have that button in PS6. Thanks, though.

In 6 unlink the mask from the main thumbnail in the Layers Palette to get the same thing.

Aye, thanks a ton for that, Ed; it works perfectly. Thanks for that.

Jon

"Dale Glaser" wrote:

Hey, I have actually just been playing around with what I think you want to do.

Say you want to put a halo around a face. Select the face, and choose any adjustment layer. Click OK without doing anything. This will create a mask on the adjust layer which is just acting as a holder for the mask.

Select the mask. Now you can choose a layer style and it will affect the while pixels of the mask, ie, your selection. The layer style is responding to luminosity values on a mask as opposed to
non-transparency/transparencey on an image. On a mask, layer styles see white pixels as if they were pixels on an image, and see black pixels as if they were transparency on an image.

Go to

http://www.pacificsites.com/~dglaser/art/2004/reststop.html
to see what I did with an image using this technique, with some further explanation.

Thanks for that technique, Dale, I appreciate it.

Jon

Jon,

I did some more thinking about halos and did some more exploring into the power of using layer masks as the basis for applying layer styles.

I put up another page on my site that you might find of interest:

http://www.pacificsites.net/~dglaser/art/PhotoShopTips/PSTip sDaleTut6Halo.html

This uses a mask and a layer style to create an editable halo done using non-destructive editing principles.

You might be interested in backing out of that page to see the other tutorials/tips I have been putting up on my web site.

Thanks for steering me into another interesting topic to explore...!

Dale